Horizon League Notebook
by Cory Eve
Two-Horse Race
With only five games remaining in the conference season, the Horizon League championship is going to come down to two teams, the No. 9 Butler Bulldogs and the Wright State Raiders. Since it seems pretty certain only these two teams have a chance at the regular season title, let’s take a second to see where they come from, but more importantly, let’s look at where they’re going. I don’t believe the experts saw the championship coming down to either of these teams.
Let’s start with the Bulldogs, who exploded onto the national scene this year, and they did it early in the season. They started off the season winning the NIT Season Tip-Off, which was loaded with top 25 teams, and most people did not have them coming out of the first round. However, the Bulldogs had other ideas as they beat Notre Dame, Indiana, Tennessee, and Gonzaga en route to the title.
The Bulldogs have rolled through conference play, losing only at Illinois-Chicago. Not only have they won ten of 11 conference games, they’ve been doing it by an average margin of 14 points. Memphis of Conference USA may be the only team in the nation to dominate their conference more than Butler has. They’ve won with great leadership from their guards, A.J. Graves and Mike Green, and the role players filling their roles to perfection. They maximize their possessions by only turning the ball over nine times a game, and they play great defense, allowing up only 53 points per game in conference play. They’re also very hard to comeback on because they hit their free throws: Butler shoots 75 percent from the line as a team.
Now let’s talk about the Wright State Raiders, a team a lot of people around the country do not know about. They did not start off the season as hot as the Bulldogs did; in fact, they only thing they did consistently was play inconsistent basketball. The Raiders were a very average 5-6 team in their first eleven games, but after they took a 71-45 thrashing at the hands of LSU, they were ready for a change.
Since the embarrassing loss to the Tigers, the Raiders have won 12 of 14 games and moved to within a half game of first place Butler in conference play. They’ve been led all season by their senior leader and conference player of the year candidate, DeShaun Wood. Wood has averaged 19 points, nearly five rebounds, and four assists per game this season. The Raiders also have a good balance of youth and experience. They have two seniors, one junior, one sophomore, and two freshmen averaging nearly 20 minutes a game. The team models Butler in that they only turn the ball over 12 times a game, and they shoot 74 percent from the foul line.
Although Butler demolished Wright State 73-42 in their first meeting, their next game against each other is at the Raiders’ home on Saturday. Expect the Raiders to come out and play with a lot of passion and enthusiasm, and expect Butler to stay calm and play the style of basketball they have all season. This game is going to come down to which teams’ clutch players can make clutch plays, and since Butler’s have been doing it all season (against better teams too), I have to give the edge to the Bulldogs despite being on the road. This game will decide who wins the Horizon League regular season championship.
